[ sketch of ambuyat with side dishes by bruneian artist, pengiran kamarulzaman ]
fridays remind me of a unique Bruneian dish, the ambuyat, introduced to me by a former boss. ambuyat is a traditional Brunei dish and is prepared with ambulong, a starch made from sago yielded by a type of palm tree known as rumbia. the starch is mixed with hot water, stirred thoroughly and it then transforms into the paste-like ambuyat, which is tasteless by itself.
ambuyat is eaten using candas, some kind of a forked chopstick cut from the rib of the sago palm. you are supposed to roll it on, like pasta on a fork and dip in some sauce, and swallow it. it’s useless to chew and you won’t be able to breathe as long as it is in your mouth.
it may look gooey but, ambuyat is delicious and is eaten with a variety of side dishes (usually five), such as ikan rebus (boiled fish), ikan masin masak lemak, sambal ikan, pais ikan, pais udang, ikan panggang, pais daging, and vegetables. the dipping sauce is made of vinegar, soy sauce, chili, belacan (shrimp paste) and sometimes tampuyak, which is salted durian paste.
it actually isn’t that bad . . . and they say you won’t gain weight from it since it is mostly water.
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